Newport Gwent Dragons comfortable 17-42 defeat of Italian side Calvisano gave them the 24th and last spot in next season’s Heineken Cup. The Dragons were the highest placed side in the Magners league not to have qualified for the Heineken Cup and Calvisano lost to Treviso in the semi final of the Italian Top 10 competition. The Dragons are now inserted into Tier 3 of the rankings.
The Dragons’ win completes the list of qualifiers for the 2009/10 season. The draw for the competition will take place on June 8th and will include seven English sides, six French teams, four regions from Wales, three Irish teams and two each from Scotland and Italy.
Heineken Cup Ranking System
Until last season’s competition, the Heineken Cup pools were drawn at random, with no reference to past performance. The draw was structured to keep teams from the same nation apart, with the exception of the country, (England or France), who was providing seven teams into the six pool tournament.
This method was considered, quite literally, a lottery with the potential to place very strong teams in a, ‘Group of Death’, while giving other sides an easy ride through to the knockout stages. In the 2007/08 tournament, Pool 6 included Toulouse, Leicester and Leinster. This season Toulouse qualified for the quarter finals and Leicester and Leinster went all the way to the final.
In 2008, European Rugby Cup announced a ranking system. Teams were awarded points depending on how they performed in the Heineken Cup or the Challenge Cup over the previous four seasons. The teams were then divided into four tiers of differing strength. Teams in the same tier are kept separate in the draw.
Teams can earn points on a sliding scale from one for finishing bottom of their pool to eleven points for winning the tournament. The winners of the European Challenge Cup gain five points for their achievement. The points are then accumulated over the rolling four season period, although the Heineken Cup Champions are automatically allocated a tier 1 position.
Heineken Cup Rankings 2009/2010
The full rankings are as follows:
Tier 1, Leinster, Munster, Leicester Tigers, Toulouse, Bath Rugby, Biarritz Olympique
Tier 2, Cardiff Blues, Stade Français, Gloucester Rugby, Perpignan, Ospreys, London Irish
Tier 3, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets, Ulster, Newport Gwent Dragons
Tier 4, Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh, Benetton Treviso, Brive, Viadana
Tickets Already on Sale for 2010 Heineken Cup Final
The celebrations in Dublin may still be going on after Leinster’s victory in this season’s Heineken Cup, but the organisation for next year’s competition gathers pace. Tickets have already gone on sale for the 2010 Heineken Cup final. The match to decide next year’s Heineken Cup champions will be held at the Stade de France in Paris on May 22nd.
The Heineken Cup draw has now been made
